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For me, the buckets walk the walk and talk the talk. I purposefully spec'd my Touring to be as different as possible from my GTS. I wanted to make the cars as different a driving experience as possible. The 4-ways in my GTS are fine. Easy ingress and egress, relatively comfortable but my butt starts to hurt on long drives (I am 6'0", 160 lbs). I have driven my Touring more than 500 miles in a day. Not once have I felt like my sciatic nerves were being stabbed with an ice pick, as has been the case in my 4-ways. For me, the big advantage of the 4-ways is the ability to add seat coolers and warmers. To a guy who has both buckets and "sofas," the buckets are more comfortable, sexier, lighter and they enhance the overall driving experience.
For me, the buckets walk the walk and talk the talk. To a guy who has both buckets and "sofas," the buckets are more comfortable, sexier, lighter and they enhance the overall driving experience.
The pepita houndstooth inserts are really nice. That is the great advantage of lwb - the inserts are easy to change.
18-way if you put a lot of street miles on the car, especially if those miles are spent with the wife. Great seats. If you track the car more than a few times a year get the LWB seats. The LWBs are less comfortable for most, harder to get in/out of. Less adjustable. But ideal for tracking and they look the business. All about your use case. Porsche offers different options so you can decide which makes the most sense for YOU. No right or wrong answer. I don’t have the best back, and drive mostly with the wife. The 18-way seats are perfect for my usage.
since I added that riser to change the lean angle of the seats the LWB's are much more manageable. My biggest issue with not having 18 ways is that this car cannot be our "date" car. My wife has not figured out any elegant way to extract herself from the car without flashing the entire world, so for date nights it's her 718s. (which is a 6 speed, so I do get that benefit).
You know, I wonder how many of those that have tried 18-ways and find them uncomfortable never bothered to actually TWEAK all the settings. It probably took me a full hour to really dial mine in the first time and I've made a few several small tweaks since then. It would be excellent if there was a memory function on them too - even if nobody else ever drives the car.
I tweaked them like crazy and could never get them to keep the back pain at bay. I have serious back issues and what I think was going on is that the LWBs provide such great lateral support that they take my core muscles out of the equation, whereas in the 18 ways I'm having to use my core muscles, particularly lower back, more in transitions to keep myself in place in the seat. It's subtle, but it adds up over the drive time. I also found that the lumber support (or lack thereof) in the LWBs just fit my back shape better.
18-way if you put a lot of street miles on the car, especially if those miles are spent with the wife. Great seats. If you track the car more than a few times a year get the LWB seats. The LWBs are less comfortable for most, harder to get in/out of. Less adjustable. But ideal for tracking and they look the business. All about your use case. Porsche offers different options so you can decide which makes the most sense for YOU. No right or wrong answer. I don’t have the best back, and drive mostly with the wife. The 18-way seats are perfect for my usage.
Agree with everything except that bolded part. That's just not true. If you talk to people that have actually spent significant seat time in the LWBs, very few will tell you that they are uncomfortable. No more so than would say the same about the sofas.
We have the buckets in our GT3 Touring and after, 18 months into ownership, I can honestly say I can take em or leave em. I traded a '17 Turbo S with the 18-ways for the GT3 Touring and I felt the buckets fit the GT3 better and wanted to make it as different as possible from the TTS.
They do give the car a sense of occasion when you fall into them so I don't regret it one bit.
However:
They take a little getting used to and they look great but I'd be lying if I said it didn't limit my ability to use it as a daily driver.
In my TTS I actually used it like any other car and I would load it up if it was just me or just me and one passenger. Car parts, furniture (small, of course), I used it like any other car.
With the Buckets you will need to limit the size of any objects to something that can be squeezed between the middle two seats.
When I spec'ed it, I was adamant about having them. Knowing what I know now, I wouldn't let the lack of them be a deciding factor.
I loved the 18 ways on my .1. swaddled in alcantara, leather and heated, I felt like a spoiled baby, stuck in a Stau on a Sunday wasn't so bad, pulled to the side and listened to weird music DJ Bobo, it made even the rain in Germany tolerable, current car has the LWBs and like them because I am a poser hardcore person, they fit and are comfy too, just less luxury, get them if you track, if you DD only, get the 18 ways
I bought my winged 991.2 GT3 CPO last October 2019. My “must haves” were manual, PCCB, FAL, extra fuel tank and < 5k miles. I hadn’t thought much about the seats (and I was nervous the first time I got in and out of the car), but thought the LWB’s really looked cool and made the car really different. I was honestly most worried about my wife but she likes them! Anyone who rides in my car that’s never experienced LWB’s and a GT3 will never forget it. I initially had issues with my lower back and thought about (1) replacing with 18-ways, (2) putting in brackets, (3) getting P1 inserts (which are really nice), or (4) finding foam shims to put underneath (per Mr. JWW video on YouTube). If you want to do 1 it’s super expensive and no matter what anyone says, it will be harder to sell the car without the LWB’s and you will get far less ($10k+ I’m guessing) without them. I ultimately paid $10 for some upholstery foam in a roll and cut out some and put it underneath the back insert. Works like a charm! I find the LWB seats really comfortable and do a lot of daily driving and don’t actually track the car (but never say never!). When I want to take it easy I get in the Panamera. But everyone who owns a GT3 is one of the luckiest people on earth no matter what is rubbing up against their butt!
I am 6' 2" and weigh 190 pounds and have no back or movement issues. I spent an entire day in LWB's and they did not work for me. Issue is they are too upright and forward for me. I felt like someone kept trying to push my head forward. Thus, I would press my head into the back. This in turn gave me a neck ache which then turned into a headache.
I could see the front angle brackets that vendors sell as most likely a solution that would have worked for me. I don't know how you could track this car without those angled seat brackets wearing a helmet.
Luckily, I found a car with sofas/heated seats and love them. I DD the car all the time. So it's nice not to have to crawl out of it. Plus, I can tilt the seats forward to access all of the storage in the back. To each their own.
Agree with everything except that bolded part. That's just not true. If you talk to people that have actually spent significant seat time in the LWBs, very few will tell you that they are uncomfortable. No more so than would say the same about the sofas.
You could be right! But has anyone ever said the sofas were uncomfortable? But my comment was made from reading many posts on this forum over the years. Of course not everyone feels the LWBs are less comfortable. Maybe there is an age bias, as younger owners tend to do better with the LWBs while older owners are a bit more sensitive to them (back issues!). I have been in both and feel that a 2-3 hour drive in the LWBs would get old where the sofas are still super comfortable. It really depends on your use case, and possibly your age. Of course plenty of exceptions.
07-29-2020, 11:36 PM
But my comment was made from reading many posts on this forum over the years. Of course not everyone feels the LWBs are less comfortable. Maybe there is an age bias, as younger owners tend to do better with the LWBs while older owners are a bit more sensitive to them (back issues!). I have been in both and feel that a 2-3 hour drive in the LWBs would get old where the sofas are still super comfortable. It really depends on your use case, and possibly your age. Of course plenty of exceptions.